Under the Snake Skin
by DemonGirl13
Summary: Take a peak at the kinder side of Kaidoh Kaoru as he cares for Seigaku's Prince of Tennis, Echizen Ryoma. Oneshot. Pairing: KaidohXRyoma. Fluff mostly. Needed a break from all the fem!Ryo fics.


A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I've been gone for a hell long a time. I've been working on some Original stories. I came to check up on and I'm pretty shocked at all the fem!Ryo fic's I've seen so far. Seriously, I have nothing against fem!Ryo but I haven't read a decent fic with male Ryoma in a long time. It keeps bugging me and finally, I decided to write a cute, fluffy oneshot of a very rarely seen pair. KaidohXRyoma! You heard me right! Keep reading and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of the characters.

Title: Under the Snake Skin

Pairing: KaiXRyo

* * *

"Oi, Mamushi! You're moving pretty slow there!" a loud, boisterous voice called out. A bandanna wearing boy turned around, fixing his agitated gazer towards the perpetrator, seeing non-other than the violet eyed 'Idiot Peach', Momoshiro Takeshi, who was grinning at him from behind the chain fence.

"Fshhhuu! What was that? You looking for a fight yarou?" Kaidoh Kaoru, the 'Mamushi'; called back; sweat dripping down his tanned face as he continued to hit the balls that Inui-senpai was serving at him, making sure to hit the balls towards the respective coloured cones that the older male called out. It's an exercise they had used to strengthen the teams accuracy and concentration and Kaidoh found that it was a good way to train his focus.

Momoshiro just laughed, although there was an edge in it. His violet coloured eyes were gleaming mischievously as he tried to distract the snake like male. Not far from the loud mouth second year, stood Oishi Shuichiro, Kikumaru Eiji and Fuji Syuusuke who were watching the exchange with various expressions. Oishi in worry, Eiji in amusement and Fuji who just smiled as if these kind of confrontations were normal, which they pretty much were.

"Momo, stop distracting Kaidoh!" Oishi chastised from his position, clipboard in hand as he instructed the first years. Eiji had ran up to the tall second year and was hanging from Momoshiro's shoulders, grinning as he pinched and pulled at the younger male's cheek.

"Mou, Oishi! Momo-chan's just making the training harder! It's good practice nya!" Eiji said as he too began to attempt to distract Kaidoh, much to the snake-like teen's annoyance. It was only his manners that kept him from getting into a verbal fight with the third year senpai, and manners alone. He doubled his efforts, not wanting to face punishment for missing a cone. He shuddered at the memory of Inui-senpai's newest drink.

**Flashback **

"_The one who misses will have to drink my new sports drink." Inui-senpai said as he brought out a pitcher of bluish-red liquid. The smell was enough to knock Horio out, making the Seigaku team pale, all except for Fuji who smiled angelically, stating that it looked 'delicious'._

"_Inui-senpai's drink is as fearsome as ever…" Ryoma Echizen murmured quietly as Momo, Taka-san and the two first years, Katchiro and Katsuo agreed with him. The latter two glad that they were not going to be made to drink the vile liquid._

"_What is that thing nya?" Eiji exclaimed, backing away as far as he can from the abomination that Inui had oh so lovingly dubbed 'Inui Hyper Remix Deluxe Aouzu.' The glasses wearing male smiled evilly as his spectacles gleamed in the light._

"_It's good for your body. A new drink that is a special blend of a-" he was cut off by a glance from Fuji. The tensai's eyes were open and he was giving Inui a cold look before they closed again, the cold expression gone from his face._

"_Saa, it won't be fun if you gave the secret away Inui." Fuji said calmly and the entire team could feel the cold wind that blew in with that statement. Inui cleared his throat and nodded his head in assent._

"_Ah, Fuji is right. Anyway, this will be used for today's penalty…"_

**Flashback End**

"Kaidoh, you can stop now." Inui said as he took out his trusty green notebook, taking down several things quickly with his pen as Kaidoh panted on the other side of the courts, his racket in one hand before he moved to exit the courts.

"Accuracy increased by 15%, Concentration by 25%... Iie data…" Inui murmured quietly to himself before he shut the book and stowed the pen away. He walked over to the second year, giving him some tips to further increase his ball control before making his way to Oishi.

"Heh, not bad for a Viper." Momo chimed out from his position near Court 2, stretching for his turn in the courts as Kaidoh made his way towards the drinking fountain. The snake like boy hissed a reply before ignoring the dumb peach in favour of a drink, preferably the non-lethal kind. As he walked, he took pleasure in the cool breeze that blew in, the cool air felt amazing against his heated skin, making the tanned boy feel refreshed and energized.

* * *

Taking a turn to the left, he was surprised to see Echizen by the drinking fountains, his cap lying uselessly on the ground while the boy himself seemed to be passed out. Walking a bit quicker, a hint of worry in his eyes, the older male kneeled down in front of the boy to see if he was alright.

"Echizen… Echizen…" Kaidoh called, shaking the smaller boy slightly, careful not to jerk him too much. He didn't get a response. He tried shaking a bit harder, eliciting a somewhat pained groan from the boy in question. Releasing a relieved sigh, he looked around, trying to spot someone that could help. Seeing a first year walk by, Kaidoh called the boy over and told him to tell the vice-captain that he was taking Echizen to the nurse's office.

"Hai Kaidoh-senpai!" the frightened boy said before rushing off in search of Oishi. Kaidoh sighed, looking at the prone form of Echizen Ryoma, their cocky, first year 'Prince of Tennis'. He couldn't help but wonder just what happened to the boy. Carefully and with a gentleness no one would have expected, Kaidoh lifted up the smaller male into his arm, slightly surprised by how little the younger boy weighed.

"Mngghhh…" Ryoma groaned, making Kaidoh halt in his endeavour to position the boy more securely in his arms. Ryoma shifted a bit before he settled down, making it easier for Kaidoh to manoeuvre them into the school building and towards the nurses office.

The second year thanked all the gods and goddesses that he knew that this 'event' occurred during evening practise where there would be only a few students in the building. He wasn't sure if he could live a peaceful high school life free of mortification if anyone saw him carrying Echizen bridal style through the school and he would think Echizen would feel the same way.

"Sumimasen sensei, I have a passed out student with me." Kaidoh said politely from his position near the door. The nurse, a kindly looking woman ushered him in and told him to place Ryoma onto one of the beds while she checked on him. Kaidoh waited patiently as the nurse checked the younger male's temperature to see if he had a fever before she ran a few simple diagnostics.

"Ah, he doesn't have a fever and there's no signs of injury, besides a few fading bruises here and there. Nothing serious and definitely nothing to worry about. He can stay here for awhile but I suggest someone to keep him company for when he wakes up." The nurse said, smiling kindly. Kaidoh nodded his head, telling the nurse quietly that he would stay with Echizen until the first year woke up.

"Ah, arigatou Kaidoh-kun. You're such a nice young man. I have some errands to run. Keep an eye on him until I get back okay." The nurse said and with that, she exited the room, leaving the two boys alone. Kaidoh just blinked, letting out a soft hiss as he sat on the chair provided. Taking out his cell phone, he texted a message to Oishi, telling him his location and that he was going to stay with Echizen until the younger teen woke up. A few moments later, his phone vibrated, signalling an incoming message. It read;

'_Alright, you're excused from practice. We'll finish up soon. Take care of Echizen. – Oishi'_

Wish nothing better to do, Kaidoh sat silently, observing the younger male as he slept, finally getting a good look at the youngest member of the Seigaku team. He was a bit shocked to discover how much detail he had missed. All the while he had seen Echizen as the cocky first year that had made it into the regulars, then later as a formidable tennis player and a strong team mate. Only now did he notice just how small the boy really was when compared to everyone else on the team.

Echizen's hair was splayed across the pillow; the dark, slightly messy, locks with a greenish tint contrasted with the white pillow, bringing attention to Echizen's cherubic face. The closed eyes, framed with long, thick lashes, hid his cat like, honey coloured eyes and his peach coloured lips were full and plump, a bit like a girls. Even his skin was surprisingly fair despite being out in the sun during practise and seemed soft and smooth to the touch with no traces of body hair.

'I never realized how girly Echizen looks. It's kindda cute…' Kaidoh's mind supplied, making the older male flush a light shade of pink at the thought. He was a respectable young male, and he prided himself for it. He was not like Momoshiro or Sengoku Kiyosumi from Yamabuki who gawked at every pretty girl they saw. With that in mid, he tried hard to push away any thought regarding Echizen and the boy's so called 'girly cuteness', reminding himself of the first year's rather blasé attitude.

"Mhnng… Wh-Where am I?" Echizen's voice broke Kaidoh out of his reverie. The second year whipped his attention towards the first year who was sitting up in bed slowly, a hand rubbing at one of his eyes in a cute manner as he tried to smooth his ruffled hair with the other. A blush formed on Kaidoh's face at the sight and the older male couldn't deny that Echizen was indeed, cute.

"You're in the nurse's office." Kaidoh replied in his usual tone. Echizen's eyes were now focused on him and Kaidoh couldn't help but feel a little exposed at being starred at by the cat like eyes of the younger male. Kaidoh watched as the first year tilted his head slightly, a confused frown marring his angelic looking face. The snake like male could have slapped himself.

'Did I just think of his face as angelic?' he thought furiously, almost missing the question that was being directed at him by the younger male.

"Kaidoh-senpai, how did I get here?" Echizen asked in a soft tone. His voice was still laced with some sleepiness and again, Kaidoh found it quite endearing to listen to. With a straight face, he answered in a calm, controlled voice. Not once reflecting his true feelings;

"I carried you here."

It was an interesting and somewhat shocking sight for Kaidoh as he watched in amazement at what happened next. Once the words left his mouth, he saw the tell tale signs of a light pink blush creeping onto Echizen's fair cheeks. Kaidoh was rendered to near speechlessness. Echizen blushing? Not possible. But here he was, sitting on the bed in the nurse's office being told that he had been carried into said office by the same senpai no less.

"I'm sorry I caused you trouble." He heard Echizen say, shocking him some more. Now the younger male was thanking him? This was completely out of character. Kaidoh may not be a data expert like Inui but he knew enough that apologizing wasn't something that Echizen normally did and so, he did the most logical thing that came to mind. He placed a hand on the younger boy's fore head to test his temperature.

"Kaidoh-senpai?" Echizen said curiously, his eyes peeking from beneath Kaidoh's hand to stare at the older male questioningly.

"I think you may have a fever." Kaidoh murmured seriously as he took his hand off from the other male, feeling a strange pleasure when his hand made contact with Echizen's skin. The younger boy merely shrugged his shoulders in a non-committal way. Silence descended into the room once more, although it wasn't a tense one.

"Why were you passed out?" Kaidoh asked after a long enough period of companionable silence. Echizen shrugged once again before he attempted to stand up. He was a bit shaky and Kaidoh was tempted to help him but knew that the younger male would be annoyed, seeing as he hates to show his weakness to people.

"Just tired I guess." Echizen answered once he was stable. He looked at Kaidoh, a calculating look in his eyes before he gave the older male a small, slight smirk, something akin to a small smile.

"Let's go senpai, I think practise should be done by now and we still need to get our things from the clubroom." He said before exiting the room, leaving Kaidoh to stand in the middle of the nurse's office by himself before the older male let out a frustrated but amused hiss.

"Brat..." he murmured, shaking his head before trailing after Echizen.

* * *

Once they reached the club room, evening practise had already finished. Most of the club members had already made their way home. Eiji informed Echizen that Momo had to leave a bit earlier as he had to babysit his younger siblings that night.

"He said he's really sorry O'chibi! And that he'd treat you to burgers tomorrow!" Eiji said enthusiastically as he clung onto the smallest member of the Seigaku regulars, nuzzling against him. Echizen nodded slightly as he tried to pry his senpai's hand's off of him.

"Kiku-ma-ru-sen-pai.. Cant'-br-eathe!" he panted out, face turning a light shade of purple. Eiji immediately released him, apologizing profusely as he asked if the younger male was okay.

"Iie-da-daijoubu desu Kikumaru-senpai." Echizen managed to say as he regained control of his breathing. Pretty soon, everyone had finished changing, packing, and were on their way home. It was then that Echizen and Kaidoh found themselves walking together, going in the same direction.

"I didn't know you lived anywhere near this area Kaidoh-senpai." Echizen said with a slight frown. He felt somewhat disappointed in himself that he didn't know that fact. Kaidoh for his part, didn't seem too put out by the frown as he answered;

"No. I guess not. Usually I take the longer route home so you've never seen me around here." The older male replied. Echizen just hummed his acknowledgement and the duo continued to walk in silence until they reached Ryoma's house. As the younger boy was about to bid his senpai goodbye, a furry little ball ran through the gates and latched itself onto Kaidoh's pant leg, shocking the second year slightly.

"Karupin!" Ryoma exclaimed, his voice a pitch higher than normal in shock. Kaidoh wasn't even sure how he managed to hear the change in pitch but he did. Looking down, he spotted the younger boys infamous Himalayan cat that had caused quite a stir in the school a few months back. Bending down, he scratched the cute cat behind the ears, scooping her up and depositing her into Echizen's awaiting arms.

"Heh, senpai's really good with animals." He heard Echizen say with approval. The second year blushed at the compliment, not giving the slightest indication that he was flattered by it. He was about to turn around to head back to his house when Echizen latched onto his arm, pulling the taller male down so that they were eye level with each other.

"Thank you again for taking me to taking care of me today senpai." Echizen said with a mischievous glint in his eyes before he gave Kaidoh a small kiss on the lips. Shocked, Kaidoh just stood stunned at the door after Echizen had entered; the boy even giving him a cheeky wave before he shut the gate.

"Brat…" he murmured at last, a small smile stretched on his lips before he walked away from the gate, heading towards his own home.

* * *

END

A/N: Review please~


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